You can focus on “domination” cards, which use threats, insults, and coercion or you can try “influence” cards, which use swagger, persuasion, and tact.Īs you debate your opponent you’ll deal and receive dozens of buffs, debuffs that can be a bit of a headache. Also, there are multiple approaches for getting your opponent to see things your way. Arguably there’s even more strategy to these encounters than to Battles because of all the different status effects and modifiers that require you to continually re-evaluate your plans – which can be fun or annoying depending on the circumstances. Negotiations, on the other hand, are slow, strategic, and complex contests of wits where you use persuasion and coercion cards to whittle down the enemy’s core argument in an almost incomprehensible flurry of status effects. And, as is typical of this type of game, I couldn’t replay those the same way even if I wanted to thanks to the way adventures are procedurally generated and loot is randomized for each playthrough, you have to learn to roll with the punches and find the best strategy by literally using the cards you’re dealt, which is a blast.
In one playthrough with Sal I stacked up cards that cause bleed damage to drain my opponent’s health, while in another I used Smith’s bizarre ability to regenerate health by getting hammered and hurting himself to create an unstoppable rampaging drunken ogre. Because combat can be brutally challenging on higher difficulties, creating the perfect mixture of defensive cards, offensive cards, status effects, and items is essential for survival. Voice acting is done through a Sims-style gibberish language, meaning you’ll be reading a lot of subtitles (which are enhanced by the tone from the voices), but the soundtrack during combat is every bit as catchy as you’d hope from a game you’re expected to spend a lot of time playing through again and again.īattles tend to be fast, action-packed, and very similar to Slay the Spire (and equally challenging and replayable), where you and any allies or pets you might have knock the snot out of all manner of beasts, robots, or fellow grifters who cross you. With the exception of Sal’s campaign, which is a pretty bland revenge quest with few surprises, the stories aren’t something you’ll want to skip even on repeat playthroughs I’ve found that small details change enough to keep it interesting, and it’s all based on the missions generated and the decisions you made.Īdding to the already substantial amount of charm is Griftlands’ hand-drawn Saturday Morning Cartoon style and bizarre-looking anthropomorphic animals and humans who live in its world. The general outline of each campaign follows the same storyline every time, but the exact missions you’re sent on, the characters involved, and the random encounters you stumble upon are procedurally generated so that no two runs are quite the same. As a fellow grifter in the midst of this chaotic hive of ruthlessness and double-crosses, you’ve got to learn quickly or become another mark added to the pile of corpses it’s a perfect setup for a conflict-heavy roguelike if I’ve ever seen one. They might be looking to make a quick buck, plotting revenge, or making a grab for power, but almost no one is innocent or without ulterior motives. Whether I was playing a mercenary on a quest for revenge, a retired soldier turned double agent who’s playing both sides of a rebellion, or a blackout-drunk slacker who’s been disowned by his family, everyone – whether they’re playable or an NPC – is looking out for number one. The main way Griftlands distinguishes itself from those games is that each of its campaigns tells a more substantial story – and for the most part they’re all exceptional. Griftlands is a deck-building roguelike in the same vein as genre standouts like Slay the Spire and Monster Train in which you earn random cards battle by battle until you lose and do it all over again.
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